Around the area where Muar river meets the Straits of Melaka

Peace be upon you all. Before the new year of 2017 comes into play in less than 9 hours from now I'd like to submit one last story for 2016 in this blogspot.

Last weekend me and family went for holiday at my parent's place in Muar. We then spent some time at the famous recreational area of Tanjung Emas. That's when  I decided to check out this place.

I understand it is the yacht club of Muar complex. But every time I went close by (I returned to Muar perhaps once in 2-3 months or so) I fail to find any significant presence of yachts.

Never mind. I went to the club and noticed a wedding reception.

Ignoring that I just wanted to check out the views.

For the record the club is situated at the tip of the cape which gave name to Tanjung (cape of) Emas.

It is situated at the opening or estuary of the Muar river.

So you call say this is where the Muar river meets the open waters of the Straits of Melaka.

Riding Malaysia's first MRT line - To the end of line at Semantan and back

Continuing from Riding Malaysia's first MRT line - On to Taman Tun.

After spending an hour or two catching up on things with old friends I returned to the Taman Tun MRT station to continue exploring the line.

Train arriving...

Welcome back onboard.

It was approching dusk and I was more concerned about completing the whole course before dark.

Soon, we arrived at Pusat Bandar Damansara.

The following station, Semantan is the last.

After that the tracks start to dip down before going underground. The next station, Muzium Negara (the National Museum) is still under construction.

So everyone have to drop down at Semantan.

Then we walked to the other side to get a train going the opposite direction back to Sungai Buloh. 

Refer back to my first article on the subject, Riding Malaysia's first MRT line - The start at Sungai Buloh. For the record this is the 1,610th article in this blogspot.

Riding Malaysia's first MRT line - On to Taman Tun

Continuing from Riding Malaysia's first MRT line - The start at Sungai Buloh.

The service, at least at this juncture of time turned out to be very regular. After waiting less than 3 minutes my first MRT train arrived.

The security doors installed at every station opens up in synch with the train doors and at the right spots. I stepped in and saw ample spacious room which looks spacier than that of the KTM Komuter trains...

Looking out from one of the windows.

Lighted info board to show which station are you at and which ones have been covered.

Looking straight down. I estimate this MRT to be about 200 metres long.

Next I walked to the head of the train to enjoy oncoming views. Some excited people have already beat me to it... :]

For the record the MRTs are remotely controlled and driven from control rooms situated at some stations or so. This allows people to stare right out of the front windshield.

The first station after Sungai Buloh is called Kampung Selamat. It is an obscure name which I only came to know that day...

Enjoying the trip and ongoings...

Situated at 20-30 metres or so above the surroundings the views offered are superb.

Next station, Kwasa Damansara. Another unfamiliar name.

Next, Kwasa Central. What's the deal with Kwasa anyway? What is Kwasa? An upwardly mobile (duh...) spelling for Kuasa which is Malay for Power or what?

On to another station...

After a while I could not be so bothered anymore about the station names. I think it's Kota Damansara followed by Surian or so. I was more concerned about views along the way, where everything is geographically located...

Ah. This old iconic building, the only tall one in the picture quickly made me recognise which area the train has arrived at.

It is at Taman Tun. Here I decided to drop out to meet some friends...

Riding Malaysia's first MRT line - The start at Sungai Buloh

Two weeks ago Malaysia's first MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) line was opened to the public. For a period of one month people can ride for free while the operators figure and sort out any teething problem. Here's my take on the matter...

Tuesday afternoon 20th December 2016, four days after the line was opened to public I decided to try out the service. This is not one of the MRT train though. This one is a KTM Komuter (commuter) train which plies the route close to my house in Rawang on to Kuala Lumpur and beyond.

I took it to get to Sungai Buloh where lies the first station of the MRT.

Its been many years since I regularly relied on public transport. I took this picture so that I can later compare its room with the MRT.

Train passing down the small town of Kuang.

A station or two later I arrived at Sungai Buloh where the MRT station is connected to the new KTM Komuter station...

To get to the MRT one have to climb up 2 or 3 levels.

Ah. Finally. At the level of the MRT.

It is situated at some height compared to the surroundings...

Looking at the MRT-LRT (Light Rapid Transit)-train-monorail network of greater Kuala Lumpur including those yet to be opened.

Stations covered by this MRT line. Almost half the line has been opened, the rest are still under construction.

My my. The full integrated network coverage is very astounding. I'm proud to say that  if everything works fine, over time greater KL has a network that could challenge whatever I've remembered and could infer from my student days in London.